The Department of Biotechnology (DBT India) through BRIC-National Institute of Plant Genome Research (BRIC
NIPGR), in collaboration with Anand Agricultural University, organized an awareness program for ‘National
Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants’ (NCS-TCP) in Anand, Gujarat on 26 August, focused on
promoting the tissue culture industry and benefits of quality planting materials.
National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants (NCS-TCP) is a unique, comprehensive and dynamic
quality management system established by the DBT, Govt. of India as per the Gazette of India Notification under the
Seeds Act 1966.
The first and foremost objective of NCS-TCP programme is to ensure production of virus and other plant pathogens
free and genetically uniform quality planting material.
Since its inception, over 1.3 billion plants have been certified, with nearly 500 million certified in the past three years
alone. Nearly 3.5 lakhs of mother plants have been tested, providing a virus-free source for the production of billions
of virus-free plants.